DONNA BARTON BROTHERS, left, and her mother Patty Barton, one of the sport’s first successful women jockeys, received the Pinkerton Vision Award at Midway University’s Spotlight Awards Dinner. (Photo by Scott White)
FELICIA QUIGG, center, received the Midway University Legacy Award at the awards dinner. Quigg mingled during the reception with, from left, Mona Chorera, the director of international studies at the university, and her daughter Brecklyn. (Photo by Scott White)
SEVERAL WOODFORD COUNTY officials and friends of Midway University attended the event. Pictured from left, Lynn Prewitt, co-owner of Four Hills Farm, Cassie Prather, director of the Woodford County Health Department, and Chantel Bingham, Versailles city councilmember and Democratic candidate for the 56th state legislative house seat. (Photo by Scott White)
Midway University held its 10th annual Spotlight Awards Dinner and fundraising auction last Thursday, May 23, at the McManis Student Center. The Spotlight Awards are focused on women and women’s issues. It is designed to highlight those who have been leaders in representing women’s issues; have made an impact that benefits women in the state of Kentucky and beyond; and innovative women in their chosen field.
The Pinkerton Vision Award was presented to retired jockey and television commentator Donna Barton Brothers. This award honors the legacy of Dr. L.L. Pinkerton, whose vision of the Kentucky Female Orphan School in 1847 established it as the first formal education for orphaned girls on the site that is now Midway University.
When Barton retired from racing in 1998, she had won 1,130 races and amassed the second-most money a woman jockey had earned in purses. She then transitioned into horse race broadcasting at Churchill Downs and then at NBC where she is part of the team covering the Triple Crown races, and has covered 21 consecutive Kentucky Derbies, interviewing the winning jockey on horseback immediately after the race. Barton is also active in horse welfare, serving on the board of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance.
Brothers said she got into racing while taking some time off before going on to college.
“My mother was one of the first women jockeys and very successful so I was working around the track and thought I may as well give it a try,” she said. “So, at the track in Birmingham, Alabama, I got in a race and it turned out to be the most exciting thing I’d ever done so I made a career out of it until I wasn’t into it anymore.”
Brothers married trainer Frank Brothers so she was around the sport and was soon offered a job working with Mike Battaglia at Churchill doing on-air analysis. NBC spotted her soon after it took over the Triple Crown rights and her profile is now international, covering major races and other equestrian events.
Receiving the Pinkerton Award was a real career highlight, said Brothers.
“I’m just blown away by this, I feel really lucky,” she said. When I realized Ted Bassett (Racing Hall of Fame member, long time president of Keeneland and the Breeders Cup) received this last year, she said, “It doesn’t get any better or a higher honor than to receive an award you know was also given to Mr. Bassett.”
The Midway University Legacy Award was presented to Felicia Quigg, vice president of family pride, the human resources arm of Richmond Baking Company. The Legacy Award honors a person who has impacted Midway University over many years by giving time, service, support, and/or resources. Quigg serves on the university’s Board of Trustees and has made significant financial contributions to major building and capital projects aside from lending her considerable skills in human resources and business expertise to Midway.